new town

In the UK, centrally planned urban area. New towns such as Milton Keynes and Stevenage were built after World War II to accommodate the overspill from cities and large towns, notably London, at a time when the population was rapidly expanding and inner-city centres had either decayed or been destroyed. In 1976 the policy, which had been criticized for disrupting family groupings and local communities, destroying small shops and specialist industries, and furthering the decay of city centres, was abandoned.

New towns are characterized by a regular street pattern and the presence of a number of self-contained neighbourhood units, consisting of houses, shops, and other local services. Modern industrial estates are located on the outskirts of towns where they are well served by main roads and motorways.